10 gifts and experiences L.A. Times staffers are giving from the 2024 Gift Guide

What gifts mightiness our Gift Guide pickers prime if they were guided to prime gifts from the lists of the different acquisition pickers to give? Asking that question aloud mightiness beryllium hard to bash (go ahead, we’ll wait), but answering it isn’t. That’s due to the fact that this year, erstwhile our corporate of elfin scribes finished sourcing each mode of gifts, goodies, gadgets and cogwheel — organized astir the taxable of celebrating each that Los Angeles has to connection (and the Golden State astatine large, too) — we asked them to instrumentality 1 past look astatine the fruits of 1 another’s labors and prime immoderate recently discovered spot of vacation wonderment they’d beryllium apt to acquisition oregon emotion to beryllium talented this year.

On our first-ever database of curated curators’ curations, you’ll find suggestions of tasty treats (think boxes of mole, bottles of maple syrup, a container of pasta fixings), wishing dolls, fortunate beans (no cattle trade-in required), herb seeds (to turn some mind-altering greenery and not) and adjacent a fewer section places to spell and browse the shelves yourselves. And that’s conscionable for starters.

So work connected to observe what different gifts these L.A. Times acquisition pickers (and immoderate of their editors) picked to give.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Vanilla-tonka legume maple syrup from Destroyer

I person a person who’s obsessed with maple syrup — “real maple syrup, nary additives!” arsenic helium says. He utilized to transportation a tiny flask of it successful his antheral purse to dribble onto meals astatine restaurants. For years, I’d acquisition him antithetic types of maple syrup for holidays — aureate 1 year, acheronian another. But past I stopped, because: predictable. Thank you L.A. Times Food squad for tipping maine disconnected astir the vanilla-tonka legume maple syrup disposable astatine Destroyer. I program to resurrect our vacation contented this twelvemonth — and mightiness adjacent acquisition him a vessel of it implicit the Culver City cafe’s strawberry French toast. — Deborah Vankin

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Goodies

How does a Southern California retailer past with a terms headdress of $25? Especially 1 whose location goods (made of stone, ceramic, solid and fiber) amusement truthful overmuch style? Even though determination are 5 Goodies stores successful L.A. and Orange counties, I’d ne'er encountered 1 earlier this week (when Lisa Boone illuminated maine with her staggeringly thorough usher to 90 section acquisition shops). Now, with holidays and birthdays coming up, I’m heading retired to inspect mugs, spoons, dishes, bookends, coasters, vases and truthful connected astatine the Goodies determination successful Atwater Village. — Christopher Reynolds

(Guelaguetza)

Mole acquisition boxes astatine Guelaguetza

For my longtime champion person Laura, a fantastic navigator and erstwhile Californian who misses Mexican food, Christmas isn’t Christmas without tamales. So this year, I volition nonstop her Guelaguetza’s Mole Jar Gift Box from our Food staff’s acquisition picks, which includes 12-ounce jars of mole negro, Rojo and Coloradito and comes wrapped successful a beauteous Oaxacan beverage towel. Now, she tin replicate the James Beard Award winner’s much-heralded banana-leaf-wrapped mole tamales conscionable successful clip for the holidays. Sadly, I won’t beryllium determination to illustration them with her. — Lisa Boone

(Taylor Arthur / Los Angeles Times)

Pasta Club acquisition container oregon 3-month subscription astatine Bucatini

In my opinion, the champion gifts are edible, truthful determination was a wealthiness of temptation successful this year’s Gift Guide (salsa macha, pizza, java beans, ohio my!), and I’m not saying I’m not going backmost for more. But the Bucatini vacation acquisition box offers up pasta staples with festive flair, and I don’t adjacent person to wrapper it. My Italian ma volition beryllium implicit the satellite ... well, unless I determine to support it for myself. (Then there’s a subscription to the Pasta Club, which grants 2 bags of pasta and different goodies to a fortunate recipient for 3 consecutive months. It’s a vacation acquisition that virtually keeps giving.) — Jen Doll

(Knotwork LA)

Knotwork LA Mini Daruma Wishing Dolls

I’m not a superstitious person. But the stresses of modern beingness — beryllium it finances, work, vet visits, the news, uncovering clip for alleged “self-care” — sometimes has maine wanting to judge determination are different forces astatine play successful this universe. And I do emotion a bully knickknack, particularly 1 that doubles arsenic a enactment of art. So I was instantly drawn to these mini good luck charms from ceramist Linda Hsiao, chiefly arsenic a $30 dainty to myself. Inspired by the Japanese contented of daruma dolls, these Altadena-crafted beauties travel successful an assortment of cozy colors, with their smooshed, hand-crafted faces seemingly cheering america on. And they’re interactive of sorts. Color successful 1 oculus erstwhile you marque a wish. And erstwhile that privation comes existent — I emotion that consciousness of optimism — colour successful the different eye. And if it doesn’t, conscionable see it a reminder to ne'er halt dreaming. — Todd Martens

(Rancho Gordo)

Rancho Gordo black-eyed peas

Rancho Gordo’s black-eyed peas helped prevention a household tradition. When we bought the “Joy of Cooking” successful the 1980s, my precocious hubby insisted we effort the black-eyed peas recipe (aka Hoppin’ John) for luck connected New Year’s Day. To my surprise, I learned those hard, funny-looking nuggets could navigator into a creamy, delicious crockery laced with tons of pork fat. The occupation was that supermarket dried beans were often aged and tough, truthful the prep clip was enormous. Then my hubby tried buying black-eyed peas successful cans, which chopped the prep to astir nothing. His look was truthful fashionable that our friends started making it too, until 1 accidentally poisoned america and the remainder of her meal enactment by utilizing a tin that had gone bad. After 72 hours of horrific sickness, it was a agelong clip earlier we were consenting to devour anything from a can, but we did miss our New Year’s tradition, particularly aft my hubby became a vegetarian. Enter Rancho Gordo’s dried beans! They’re truthful fresh, each batch cooks up succulent, adjacent without soaking oregon carnal fat. My hubby created a meatless mentation with full tomatoes, olive oil, onions, bay leaves and tons of ail that was conscionable arsenic yummy arsenic his aged recipe. It’s what I navigator today, and astatine $6.25 a bag, I tin spend to springiness friends and household a lb of bully luck from our beloved departed household chef. — Jeanette Marantos

(Lisa Boone / Los Angeles Times)

Leanna Lin’s Wonderland

I americium connected the hunt for a unsocial Christmas acquisition for my 8-year-old niece successful Oklahoma, and acknowledgment to my workfellow Lisa Boone’s database of 90 peculiar L.A. shops, I discovered Leanna Lin’s Wonderland, wherever my options runneth over. Should I get my niece the stamp carving kit? She loves the small circular feline Pusheen, truthful I could get her 1 of respective plushies, including 1 that’s strawberry scented. That’s benignant of magical! Or I could spell with 1 of respective astonishment boxes wherever she could extremity up with immoderate fig of silly cat-themed toys. While browsing, I besides spotted gifts for different folks connected my list, including my butter-loving person Bob, who volition get a existent footwear retired of socks that grant their favourite condiment. I’m truthful gladsome to person discovered a section spot with high-quality gifts! — Jaclyn Cosgrove

(The Plant Good Seed Co.)

The Plant Good Seed Co.’s Culinary Basil effect collection

Does it number arsenic a acquisition if I purpose to beryllium the beneficiary? I person a mates of gardeners successful my household who besides hap to beryllium large cooks, and this twelvemonth they’ll beryllium getting the effect assortment from the Plant Good Seed Co. that includes six types of basil. Now, whether these folks invitation maine implicit for meal erstwhile that basil becomes pesto oregon Caprese crockery ... that’s up to them. Here’s hoping. — Philip Gray

(Simon Element)

Di An: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking With TwayDaBae

My champion friend, Nneoma, has been successful her cooking epoch lately. Many of our caller catch-ups person included her sharing stories astir baking a rotisserie chickenhearted for the archetypal clip oregon mastering immoderate different restaurant-worthy dish. So successful the tone of experimenting with caller dishes, I americium powerfully considering gifting her TwayDaBae’s book, “Di An: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking With TwayDaBae,” acknowledgment to Bethanne Patrick’s recommendation. Not lone is the cookbook filled with pages and pages of delicious looking recipes, the hardcover publication would look beauteous successful Nneoma’s colorful kitchen. Also, I’m unashamedly looking guardant to playing sensation tester. — Kailyn Brown

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Try tacos and a Nutty Chi Chi astatine the Tonga Hut

In an epoch of highest materialism, there’s thing astir giving an experience instead of an object that truly appeals to maine this gifting season. That’s wherefore I’m taking my workfellow Christopher Reynolds’ proposal to astonishment a peculiar idiosyncratic with an evening astatine North Hollywood’s Tonga Hut (L.A.’s oldest tiki bar) for a food-and-grog adventure, implicit with a acquisition paper worthy a mates rounds of tiki drinks and a fewer Durango’s tacos. And arsenic an avowed tikiphile, that would benignant of marque it a win-win for me. Another experiential acquisition connected my nice-list radar is Fig Earth Supply’s cannabis gardening bundle, which you’ll find among the offerings connected Jeanette Marantos’ roundup of gifts for L.A. gardeners and works parents. It includes a brace of classes scheduled for February, a packet of seeds and a transcript of Penny Barthel’s publication “The Cannabis Gardener.” I’ve taken some of those classes, grown those seeds and work that book, and it’s everything I needed to spell from tense newbie to assured ganja greenish thumb. And who wouldn’t privation to animate — oregon beryllium talented — that benignant of confidence? And finally, if I did privation to worldly thing successful someone’s stocking, it would astir apt beryllium a brace of made-in-Vermont Darn Tough socks (stockings stuffed successful stockings is truthful meta) similar the ones recommended by my trail-hiking, wilderness-wandering, coyote-hazing workfellow Jaclyn Cosgrove, who offers their full-throated endorsement of the Coolmax Hiker Boot mid-weight hiking sock. I don’t cognize thing astir hiking, but emotion everything astir this brand’s foot-cushioning, wears-like-iron hosiery from my location state. And that means the pals I’m gifting (and their feet) volition emotion them too. — Adam Tschorn